Red Light Photo Enforcement - Your Opinion

The Lakeland Police Department gave a workshop presentation to the City Commission at their agenda study session last Friday.  The primary issue being addressed was an overview of how red light photo enforcement systems work. A red light photo enforcement system uses still and video cameras to record drivers running red lights at an intersection.  The vehicle's registered owner then recieves a municipal fine in the mail rather than a traffic citation and points on a drivers license.

A legal question remains as to whether a municipality, such as Lakeland, can lawfully create an ordinance and subsequently fine a vehicle's owner via a photo enforcement system.  The law is not specific in this matter, but the statutes seem to suggest that such a process is not permitted.  A couple of Attorney General's Opinions reinforce this view.  The Florida Legislature has not been willing to approve any such legislation in recent years.

At their most recent meeting, the City Commission passed a resolution urging the Florida Legislature to change statutes that permit the issuance of citations and fines from red light photo systems.  In doing so the Commission joined a growing list of Florida cities seeking to change the law.  We appreciate the Commissioners' support, and now want to ask what you think.

Should Florida permit the use of red light photo enforcement systems to improve our efficiency in traffic enforcement efforts?

Bill LePere, Assistant Chief of Police

Comments

[fcranews.com]

FCRA do not support red light running. FCRA do not support red light camera enforcement programs, FCRA do not support the private contractual relationship between camera vendors and local government officials.

[Larry W. Mathieson]

The comment posted by Josh is correct. I am a former Police Chief in the state of Florida and a consultant for Traffipax Traffic Safety Systems. Although I live in Florida, the company is based in the state of Maryland.

Through the use of state of the art technology, the company trains an officer who, over the internet, reviews every violation photographed in a particular jurisdiction. The company makes no decisions on the efficacy of the violations. The officer looks at each photograph and determines if it meets the criteria for a violation and then decides if it passes muster or is to be rejected. The company has no role in this process. This is and should be a local police decision.

There has also been much said about due process with Red Light Cameras. In every case, the person receiving the notice has the right to take the violation notice to court, a code enforcement board or to a Special Master. This is determined by the jurisdiction and is required by law in the State of Florida. Please feel free to email me if you have any further questions.

[Asst Chief Bill LePere]

Josh raises several interesting points. Our initial research suggests cameras not only decrease red light runners but also drastically reduce crashes at the intersections. However, we are always interested in looking at additional studies that might suggest otherwise. We do not want to solve one problem only to create another.

Citations and fines are issued on behalf of a community by the vendor who is most often out of state. One system we examined does not send out a citation until an officer reviews the video to confirm a violation occurred. This approach is a safeguard against a wide range of reasons why someone might trip a red light camera, such as moving out of the way of an approaching ambulance. In most cases, the video speaks for itself and offenders simply pay their fines.

Thanks Josh for raising these points.

[Josh Hallett]

One of the issues seems to be the confusion around research related to this subject.

I have read reports that overall the cameras decrease the number of red light runners, but then increases the number rear-end accidents.

I have heard of some communities removing them because of contractual issues with the vendor.

Also is the issue with the citation related to the fact that in many cases the ticket is not issued by the city, but by the camera vendor, which is usually in another state?